Tag Archives: vasodilator agents

Introduction Acute heart failure (AHF) syndromes are the leading cause of hospitalisation in patients over 65 years of age in the UK, accounting for 67,000 admissions per year.1 The immediate management of AHF focuses on symptom relief and stabilisation of the patient’s haemodynamic profile – traditionally achieved with a combination of oxygen, diuretics and nitrate therapy.1-5 Recent guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE),1 and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC),5 have highlighted the poor-quality evidence base for many of these interventions.3,4,6 The ESC guidelines (updated in 2016) state th